The Pillars of Thugsploitation

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Worst genre ever? We explore its inner workings.

By Charles Onyett

Gamers have always relished the ability to perform impossible or illegal actions without repercussions. Killing aliens, flying, wielding magical or futuristic weapons, transforming into odd shapes or creatures, and commanding historical battles are just some of the options. Starting with the success of Grand Theft Auto 3 for the PS2, we started to see a large number of games on store shelves focusing on what can only be described as "gangster culture," also known as the "thugsploitation" type of game. Specifically, games started focusing on killing cops, stealing, working for crime lords and being able to kill plenty of innocent civilians on the way.None of these factors are necessarily negative if incorporated into a good game. However, it turns into a way bigger problem if games are being created specifically to display these kinds of qualities rather than being enjoyable. Over the past year, the Xbox has seen quite a number of notably dreadful titles created specifically to flaunt thug attitude over playability, which apparently sells. We've compiled a list of handy thugspolitation clichés to watch out for. Keep in mind, a thugsploitation game isn't a priori terrible. There are many ways to make them interesting and fresh, they just apparently haven't been found yet.Totally Unnecessary Foul LanguageThugsploitation games are notorious for including dialogue riddled with profanity, usually for no reason but inclusion's sake. In other words, the game is trying to get across a sense of the gritty, desperate environments it's trying to convey, and failing miserably. Let's face it, creating realistic, engaging videogame dialogue is a difficult task. Separate voice clips need to be integrated with character animations and loading times to try and produce something that feels natural. Thugsploitation games accentuate that fact to make it excruciatingly apparent. While calling everyone a ******* bitch every two seconds may be funny at first, it gets embarrassingly grating after the tenth time, and it does nothing to heighten a game's realism.

Murderers go to Heaven.

People swear in real life. Everyone knows this. However, nobody who's playing games like Crime Life: Gang Wars and 25 to Life is a gangster. Nobody making the game is a gangster, either. Therefore, they have no idea how gangsters talk. These facts become obvious, painfully so, in the dialogue. The protagonist does not, for instance, need to swear every five seconds to indicate he's a badass who defies conventional wisdom. By swearing even more, the antagonist does not become the more menacing, hate-worthy character. At what point does curse frequency differentiate a rebellious, gruff protagonist and evil, scheming villain? When will people stop making these sorts of game design decisions? Hopefully soon. At least as soon as people stop buying these kinds of games.Scenarios Encouraging Wanton Cop-BeatingsIt's fun to break the rules. Killing cops has, for the past few years, been a shocking sort of draw for gangster games because of the societal taboo associated with it. Still, we all need to remember shock value only goes so far. The GTA series has always incorporated cop killing as a gameplay element, resulting in the always entertaining chase sequences as you accumulate stars. Many of thugsploitation's worst offenders choose to incorporate cop killing with absolutely zero consequence. The same goes for innocent pedestrians and townsfolk. For instance, Final Fight: Streetwise hands down virtually no penalty for cracking the kneecaps of friendly neighborhood denizens.

An exception to the rule.

If killing cops and innocent bystanders was somehow incorporated into the gameplay, it wouldn't be so much of a problem. As it is, any kid playing these kinds of games will undoubtedly come to the realization that they can kill anyone with no repercussions. It's got to be a great feeling, as a parent, to be startled from your fifteenth Aubrey-Maturin novel to the sound of your kid screaming, "Die you ******* cop bitch ****, die!" We're not saying games should incorporate only wholesome subject material. Rather, the abilities available to players in a game should contribute to gameplay, not just exist for their own sake.The Worst Graphics of Any GenreBy definition, slums aren't pretty areas. They're dirty, blanketed with trash and packed with unattractive, rickety housing. It's the setting of most thugsploitation games, since the storylines revolve around gaining power and escaping the junkpile you start in. Just because slums are dirty, undesirable areas in real life doesn't mean they can't be converted into interesting virtual settings. For instance, if trash litters alleys, plastic bags swirl about steaming manhole covers and broken machinery leans against chipped fire escapes in real life, why can't these be incorporated into games? Why does every thugsploitation game have to include terribly fuzzy textures, an infuriating abundance of browns and greys and nauseatingly boring level geometry?